Escapee: Jail wasn’t enough

A Washington C.H. resident was sentenced to two years in prison Monday after she stole the donation jar from Tim Hortons and later escaped from custody at the hospital.

Brittani N. Stroup, 36, appeared in Fayette County Common Pleas Court Monday and entered a guilty plea to one count of robbery and one count of escape.

“If I had been under the right state of mind at the time I would have done things a lot differently so I am going to take this time you have given me and use it to rehabilitate myself,” Stroup told Common Pleas Court Judge Steven Beathard during sentencing Monday.

“Are you an opiate addict?” said Beathard.

“Cocaine,” said Stroup.

“What happened when you went to the hospital?” said Beathard. Beathard commented that when jail inmates try to go to the hospital, it is usually a red flag that they are trying to get more opiates.

“I actually really did fall off the (jail) bunk but when I got to the hospital I started thinking about everything and it wasn’t enough to slow me down,” said Stroup.

Stroup went into Tim Hortons, 520 Clinton Ave., April 6 and cut the donation jar from the wire chain that secured it to the counter. An employee said he ran outside after her and attempted to block her getaway, but Stroup bit him on his arm and then fled the area.

A customer inside Tim Hortons called police dispatch while witnessing the incident. The report said the donation jar contained less than $100.

Stroup was arrested April 7 and questioned by Washington C.H. police about the robbery. She was later indicted by a Fayette County grand jury on charges of robbery, possessing criminal tools, and theft.

Stroup was taken to the hospital April 10 for an injury she claimed occurred inside the Fayette County Jail while serving jail time for a Washington C.H. Municipal Court probation violation charge.

During Monday’s court appearance, Stroup told the court that once she was inside the hospital emergency room she took off her jail clothing, “wriggled right out of” the handcuffs, and walked out of the hospital with the shackles on her legs.

She said she was arrested six hours later and was still wearing the shackles at that time.

“I had a mental breakdown,” Stroup told Beathard during sentencing.

In addition to the two-year prison sentence, Stroup was ordered to pay costs for prosecution and a mandatory three-year post-release supervision by the Adult Parole Authority.